A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
A scholar’s wife in southern Seoul employs an elderly beggar who resembles a Buddhist priestess but has an unwrinkled face. The woman processes cotton and spins thread faster than eight ordinary workers. After the household’s lavish welcome diminishes, she demands the husband as her partner and leaves angrily when refused.
She returns with an old male beggar. They empty a tablet box, disappear inside it and continue making demands through audible voices. The narrative attributes sickness and deaths among the children and visiting relatives to their anger. The wife remains trapped in the house; neighbours infer her death when its chimney stops smoking. These are the story’s linked goblins, not a claim that Buddhist clergy as a group possess such powers.
Origins & earliest records
Korea; tale-specific historical narrative
Records & interpretation
Complete story and attribution read in the 1913 English witness; no independent confirmation of supernatural events.
In the literature
“both disappeared into it”
Tale17, The Old Woman Who Became a Goblin, printed p.79 (Gutenberg markers 91) · James S. Gale
The two beggars vanish inside the cleared tablet box.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies
Tale 17, “The Old Woman Who Became a Goblin”, printed pp. 78–79 (Gutenberg page labels 90–91). English translation date, not the date of the narrated event.
- 02
Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies — The Old Woman Who Became a Goblin
London:J.M.Dent/NewYork:E.P.Dutton1913, title page explicitly dated. Gale preface says Im Bang material came from an old manuscript obtained a year earlier; other Yi Ryuk/anonymous material is separate. Every selected chapter closes Im Bang. English text, preface and selected writer notes read, no independent Korean manuscript collation. University of Toronto Gale archival finding aid confirms1913 publication/death1937: https://discoverarchives.library.utoronto.ca/downloads/james-scarth-gale-papers.pdf . Pagination corrected2026-10-05: PG51002 body markers exceed printed1913 pages by12; physical pages in retained Korea176 PDF equal printed+16. Exact quotation page independently checked in retained scan OCR; page pixels not newly reviewed here.
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
Primary records and illustrations
Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies
Im Bang; James S. Gale translation, London Dent/New York Dutton, 1913. Tale 17, “The Old Woman Who Became a Goblin”, pp. 90–91
Complete story and author signature read from cached Gutenberg51002 HTML. Translator’s bracketed introductions and author notes distinguished from narrative. No illustration claimed.
Located primary passages
Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.
Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies
London:J.M.Dent/NewYork:E.P.Dutton1913, title page explicitly dated. Gale preface says Im Bang material came from an old manuscript obtained a year earlier; other Yi Ryuk/anonymous material is separate. Every selected chapter closes Im Bang. English text, preface and selected writer notes read, no independent Korean manuscript collation. University of Toronto Gale archival finding aid confirms1913 publication/death1937: https://discoverarchives.library.utoronto.ca/downloads/james-scarth-gale-papers.pdf . Pagination corrected2026-10-05: PG51002 body markers exceed printed1913 pages by12; physical pages in retained Korea176 PDF equal printed+16. Exact quotation page independently checked in retained scan OCR; page pixels not newly reviewed here.
- A scholar’s wife employs an old woman resembling a Buddhist priestess, with an unwrinkled face and cotton-working capacity exceeding eight workers. When lavish hospitality wanes she demands the husband as partner. Refused, she returns with an old male beggar; they clear and disappear inside a tablet box, issue audible demands and are blamed for the children’s and visitors’ fatal illnesses. The wife remains captive; neighbours infer her death when chimney smoke ceases.
No direct eyewitness of the wife’s final death, and no claim that actual Buddhist clergy possess these powers. The two figures are linked by the tale but not independently named or given invented kinship.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Historical primary narrative translationTale 17, “The Old Woman Who Became a Goblin”, printed pp. 78–79 (Gutenberg page labels 90–91) — Im Bang, Gale translationResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.